Helmer Toro, co-founder of the H&H Bagels empire, was indicted by a grand jury in New York City today on felony charges accusing him of stealing withholding taxes from his employee's paychecks, and manipulating his company's New York State unemployment insurance tax payments at an illegal, lower rate.

If convicted, the 59-year-old dough boy could be sentenced to 15 years in state prison after a 37-year career in the bagel business.

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau announced that the investigators from his office found that Toro (inset) "collected but failed to pay $369,318.77 withheld from the payroll of the employees of his bagel business."

In bagelese, he's accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in dough from the employees of his bagel empire -- dough that his workers withheld from their paychecks so that Toro's company would submit it to New York tax authorities.

Wanda Barzee, a co-defendant in the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case, pleaded guilty to several criminal charges in federal court today in exchange for a reduced prison sentence recommendation and her cooperation with prosecutors in the kidnapping, sexual assault, and violence case when Smart was 14-years-old.

Instead of life in prison, Barzee will receive a 15-year (180-month) federal prison sentence, and plead guilty to Utah state kidnapping charges.

Here is what Barzee admitted to in U.S. District Court:

Oreo, the dog who was thrown off a six-story roof in Brooklyn by Fabian Henderson, her teenage owner this spring, was put to sleep by the A.S.P.C.A. in Manhattan this afternoon.

Yesterday The New York Times reported that an animal behaviorist hired by the A.S.P.C.A. to assess Oreo's disposition -- after several months of unsuccessful therapy and rehabilitation at the organization's facility -- concluded that Oreo displayed "exhibited intense aggressive behaviors," and concluded that "Oreo should not have any access to the public or uncontrolled areas outdoors. Oreo shouldn't be around children."

In a statement, the A.S.P.C.A. revealed further details on Oreo's suffering:

A 24-year-old Illinois man already facing a host of criminal charges flipped off a judge during his court arraignment, earning himself six months in county jail for contempt of court.

McHenry County Circuit Court Judge G. Martin Zopp reportedly gave Kane Kellet (see below) a cussing freebee at his initial court hearing Saturday morning. According to State's Attorney Louis Bianchi, Judge Zopp asked Kellet. "'Sir, do you have an attorney?" to which the suspect replied "F--- no.'"

So what prompted him to give the judge the finger?

Tenants in Manhattan's Stuyvesant Town (inset, left) and Peter Cooper Village rent regulated apartments (inset, right) won a legal victory today from New York's Court of Appeals, the state's highest court.

Upholding a 2007 appellate court ruling that landlords who receive a special J-51 tax abatement forfeit the right to further remove apartments from rent regulation by luxury decontrol proceedings, the Court of Appeals declined to give apartment owners a legal 'twofer.' 

Tishman Speyer Properties, PCV ST Owner LP, and Metropolitan Life Insurance could not get both 1) tax exemptions and/or phased tax abatements, and 2) try to remove rental apartments from rent regulation entirely for either high-income renters whose rent was at least $2,000 a month, or vacant apartments that rented for at least $2,000 a month.

State Street Bank and Trust was sued by California Attorney General Jerry Brown's office today, accusing the Boston, Massachusetts bank of massive, "unconscionable" investment fraud by overcharging the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) pension funds tens of millions of dollars

The lawsuit alleges that for eight years, starting in 2001, State Street "consistently 'marked-up'" Interbank Rate trade prices for buying and selling currency, rather than honoring its contract with CalPERS and CalSTRS to give the pension funds "the most competitive rates available for all FX transactions." According to California Attorney General Jerry Brown, State Street entered false trading records for CalPERS and CalSTRS accounts, and recorded fictional rates for trading foreign currency

How much were the California retirement funds overcharged during these eight years?

Florida is seeking death penalties against four suspects in the Billings family murders:

According to Florida State's attorney William 'Bill' Eddins, the death penalty will be sought against the following four (out of the original seven) suspects: Leonard Gonzalez, Jr., Wayne Thomas Caldiron, Donald Ray Stallworth, and Patrick Lee Thornton.

They were arrested and charged this summer with murdering Byrd and Melanie Billings, the Florida couple who adopted a number of special needs children, some of whom were reportedly inside the house when the couple was slain.

Philip Markoff, the accused 'Craigslist killer' murder suspect, was indicted by a Rhode Island grand jury yesterday on two felony charges: assault with a dangerous weapon and assault with intent to rob.

The Rhode Island indictment (see below) charges Markoff with assaulting Cynthia Melton, a previously reported Las Vegas stripper who advertised her lap dance services on Craigslist, and with pistol-whipping her husband, Keith Melton.

Although Markoff reportedly told Cynthia Melton, "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you," while he bound and tried to gag her, Keith Melton may have actually saved his wife's life by knocking on his wife's hotel room door, catching Markoff off-guard.

Robert 'Joe' Halderman (inset, right), the CBS news producer indicted for allegedly trying to shakedown $2 million from David Letterman in an extortion scheme over office trysts, pleaded 'not guilty' this afternoon in Manhattan's criminal court.

According to the indictment (below), Halderman tried to extort Letterman over three weeks, starting September 9, 2009 and ending September 30, 2009.

Particularly surprising is that Halderman, an Emmy-nominated news producer, worked on a variety of legal stories for CBS: Madeleine 'Maddie' McCann's disappearance, Italy's murder case against American foreign exchange student Amanda Knox, and the murder of a pediatric eye surgeon in Arizona. 

With that kind of professional experience covering the law, one would think that Halderman knew that demanding $2 million from David Letterman in a quid pro quo to avoid disclosing the CBS star's newly admitted sexual trysts was extortion.

You can read Halderman's criminal indictment on charges of attempted grand larceny in the first degree by extortion here: